英语沙龙：事情并不总是看起来的那样

Things Aren’t Always What They Seem

Two travelling angels stopped to spend the night

in the home of a wealthy family.

The family was rude

and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room.

Instead，the angels were given a small space in the cold basement.

As they made their bed on the hard floor,

the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.

When the younger angel asked why,

the older angel replied,

“Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor,

but very hospitable¹ farmer and his wife.

After sharing what little food they had,

the couple let the angels sleep in their bed

where they could have a good night’s rest.

When the sun came up the next morning

the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears.

Their only cow,

whose milk had been their sole² income,

lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and accused the older angel:

“How could you have let this happen?

The first man has everything,

yet you helped him;

the second family has little

but is willing to share everything,

and you let the cow die.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem.”

the older angel replied.

“When we stayed in the basement of the mansion³,

I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall.

Since the owner was so obsessed⁴ with greed⁵

and unwilling⁶ to share his good fortune,

I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it.”

“Then last night as we slept in the farmers’ bed,

the angel of death came for his wife.

I gave him the cow instead.

Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Sometimes that is exactly what happens

when things don’t turn out the way they should.

If you have faith,

you just need to trust

that every outcome⁷ is always to your advantage.

You might not know it until some time later...

1 hospitable   

adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的

参考例句：

• The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客，无论是他的朋友还是同事，他都盛情接待。
• The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。

2 sole   

adj.惟一的；独一无二的，专用的；独占的

参考例句：

• She is my sole trust.她是我惟一信赖的人。
• My sole purpose is to help you.我唯一的目的是帮助你。

3 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

4 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

5 greed   

n.贪食，贪心，贪婪

参考例句：

• His greed knows no limits.他的贪心永无止境。
• Greed was his only motive for stealing.贪婪是他盗窃的唯一动机。

6 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

7 outcome   

n.结果，出口，演变

参考例句：

• The outcome of the experiment is in the lap of the gods.实验结果尚难预料。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。